Rajkowski column: All-star game brings Grant back to SJU

COLLEGEVILLE – Mike Grant is coaching football at St. John's this week.

Just not in the way many once expected he might.

Grant — the longtime head coach at Eden Prairie, whose team captured its third-straight Class 6A state title last fall — is the head coach of the South team in this year's state all-star game.

Players and coaches on both the North and South squads reported to Collegeville Sunday to begin a week of practices leading up to Saturday afternoon's game — scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium.

"My schedule in the summer is usually so busy," said Grant, who last coached in the game in 1992 following his final season as the head coach at Forest Lake High School.

"But this year, they asked me early enough that I was able to move some things around. Normally, I'd be having camps this week."

Instead, he's back at St. John's — the school at which he played from 1975-78 and served as an assistant coach under John Gagliardi for two seasons in 1987 and '88.

He then went on to great success in the high school ranks where his teams have won nine state titles. But for years, he was talked about as a likely successor in Collegeville when Gagliardi finally decided to retire.

That happened following the 2012 season and Grant did indeed throw his hat into the ring. He was one of three finalists for the position. But he elected to withdraw late in the process and the job went to longtime assistant Gary Fasching instead.

The decision left a number of his supporters in the school's alumni base disappointed. But Grant said, in the end, he made the decision that was right for him.

"People ask me about that all the time," said Grant, who was named the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year following last season — an honor that earned him a trip to this year's Super Bowl.

"It was a very close call as far as what decision I was going to make. I could easily have decided to take this job. There are a lot of talented players here that it would have been great to work with.

"It really was nothing negative about St. John's. It just came down to the fact that I'm a high school coach. That's my identity. That's what I am. I have a great comfort level (at Eden Prairie) and I love the guys I get to work with."

But Grant said he still follows the Johnnies closely and liked what he saw in Fasching's first season. St. John's finished 7-3 — a two-game improvement over a 5-5 finish the year before. And the Johnnies knocked off arch-rival and defending national runner-up St. Thomas 20-18 on the road, snapping a three-season losing streak at the hands of the Tommies.

"I thought he did a great job," said Grant of Fasching. "They won some close games early and built some momentum. They were able to beat St. Thomas, which was huge. It was right there within their grasp to make the playoffs. So I think they made a lot of progress and they're just going to continue to get better under Gary's leadership."

But Grant said he didn't spend any time thinking about what might have been.

"I never look back and wonder what if," Grant said. "I'm just so lucky to have had the opportunities I've had since then. If I had taken this job, I wouldn't have had the chance to win another state title with our team. I wouldn't have been named national coach of the year. I wouldn't have been at the Super Bowl. So it's all worked out for the best."

Both Grant and Fasching say they still communicate on a regular basis.

"Mike and I were teammates (at St. John's) for two years, so we'll always share that connection," Fasching said. "And over the years, we've talked a lot of football and shared a lot of stories. We have a great relationship with each other.

"If you look at high school football in this state, he's the king. What he's done at Eden Prairie is remarkable. So it's really good to see him back up here this week."

But Fasching said the two haven't spent any time discussing what happened in the hiring process.

"We've both moved on," Fasching said. "I've never asked him about it and he hasn't asked me either. We've talked about recruiting and other stuff. But I think we're both happy with the way it ended up working out."

Still, Grant said he is excited to be back at his alma mater — if only for one week. Saturday's all-star game will mark the first time he has coached a game at Clemens Stadium since his tenure as a Johnnies' assistant.

"It's good to be back on campus," Grant said. "Not that these players and coaches really care, but I've already spent some time reminiscing.

"I'm still a Johnnies' fan. I saw John and Jimmy (Gagliardi) today and we're going to have lunch this week. So it's just great to be back here."

• Grant said the presence of retired Stillwater coach George Thole — a Minnesota Football Coaches' Association Hall of Fame inductee — and BOLD coach Steve Solem on the South coaching staff also helped in his decision to coach in this year's game.

Solem and Grant were the opposing head coaches in the 1992 all-star game.

• The number of incoming St. John's recruits in Saturday's game has grown to five. That's because Upsala/Swanville's Mitch Lange, a Times' All-Area honorable mention pick last fall and this past season's Class A state wrestling champion at 160 pounds, was a late addition to the North roster.

"It's been kind of a rush getting everything ready to be here," Lange said. "I actually had my graduation party Saturday, then I had to leave the next day. I didn't find out until (Upsala/Swanville coach) Jay Loven (an assistant on the North coaching staff) came to my party and asked me if I wanted to play football. I did, so he told me I had to be ready by 2 p.m. the next day."

Lange joins fellow Johnnies' recruits Mitch Messman of Holdingford, Matt Miller of Annandale and Josh Sitarz of Totino-Grace on the North roster. David Franta of Blue Earth Area is a member of the South squad. Franta tweaked an injured ankle in Monday morning's practice and sat out his team's afternoon session. But he expects to be able to play Saturday.

• Lange, Messman and Miller join Trysten Ross of Little Falls, Luke Kelvington and Tyler Beehler of Foley, Austin Klaverkamp of St. Cloud Tech, Dallas Rieland of Melrose, Mason Olson of Becker and T.J. Bevans of Sartell as area players on the North roster.

This is the opinion of Times sports writer Frank Rajkowski. Contact him at 255-8772 or at frajkowski@stcloudtimes.com. Read his blog at www.sctimes.com or follow him on Twitter at @rajko1973.